Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

"I had to rush off ••• to make the last ..lane •• •" Statler denies prejudice By J o hn Ulrich LON G BEACH , CALI F.. O CT. 2 U .S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Member Stuart Statler has denied ch arges by Congressman Larry Craig tha t Statler is pr ejudiced a nd shou ld excuse himself fro m the CPSC's ongoing inv estigation into ATV sa fety. Craig claimed that Statler 's act ions a t a CPSC hearing in New Hampshire whi ch cu lm in a ted in Statler storm in g off th e stage following testimony from ATV dealers - indica ted a lac k of impartiality; in response, Statler claimed he left to ma ke a plane and that his act ions were misinterpreted by the audience. "You . . , ch arge that my con d uct a t the CPSC's ATV h ea ring in Concord, New Hampshire was ' u n p ro fession al ,' 'anta go n istic,' and clearly 'demo nstra ted (m y) in ability to listen d ispassionately to evide nce,' '' Statler wrote in a September 24 letter to Craig. "Nothing cou ld be furth er from the truth . Togeth er wi th severa l staff mem bers , I had to rush o ff tow ard th e end o f th e hearing a ro u n d th e hour o f 6:00 p. m. - a fter lis tening to testimon y fro m some 45 wit nesses since 10:00 a.m . th at morning - in order to make the last p la ne back to Washing ton , D.C. tha t n ight fro m Boston 's Logan Ai rport. Perhaps I sho u ld have made th e reasons for m y q u ick departure more clear at the tim e since. judgi ng from trade press report s. appa ren tly som e in th e a udien ce m isco ns tru ed my exit. Adm itted ly. I was disappo inted . as m y rem a rks indi ca ted at the h ea ring , with the across- the-board attit ude reflected by the ATV dea lers rep resented a t the last panel. Each was blam ing user 'ignora nce,' ' m isu se,' or 'a buse,' wh ile rna in taini n grhm the vehicle itself is in no wa y responsi ble , I don ' t buy that." Eyewi tnesses a t the hearing disp u ted Sta tler' s clai m th at he just left to ma ke a pl ane an d that h is ac tion s were m isconstrued . " H ow co u ld we misconstrue it when he said wh at he sai d?" asked Donna Osowsk i. Ge nera l Ma nager o f Bob 's Cycl es o f So uthbridge, Massachuse tts . who testified at the h ea ri ng. "He said to us, 'Ap pa rent ly yo u dealers do n ' t ta ke th is o n the sa me level. I have nothin g furt he r to say to you .' a nd he left. An d the n i\'1r. Sca n lo n (C PSC Cha ir ma n Terre nce Sca n lo n ) said some th ing to th e effect tha t I'm not o n th e sa me wa vele n g th as m y co lleague , an d I do hav e so me questi on s for you." • RISK By John Ulrich Dr. Jeckyl and Mr, Statler T he threat to Western civi lization posed by Consumer P roduct Safety Commissioner Stua rt M. " Ba n 'e m" Statler has been well documented in Cycle N ews. Statler a n dh is mini ons pose a threat even to rnotorcvclis ts wh o ar en ' t interested in and don ' t like AT Vs. Sta tler hates ATVs, facts be damned, a nd wants a h alt to cu rre n t p rod uction (or ban ) a nd a recall of ATVs, encourages product liabil ity la ws u its a gain st manufacturers, accepts the m ost ridiculous pronouncem ents a nd half-ass en gi neerin g sugges tions of ignorant ATV cra she rs (h e codd les th em as " victims" ), a n d ge nera ll y makes troubl e for a n in nocent class of device th a t has litera ll y kept many m ot orcycle dea lers in business a nd m ade it possible for yo u to co n veni ently buy motorcycles and p arts fo r yo ur motorcycle. More ATVs than motorcycles were sold in 1984, a nd AT Vs kept a co u p le of m ot orcycle manufact urers econom ica lly viable, g ivin g them m oney to design a nd build th e motorcycles we ca n b uy today . In remarks made a t a National Motorcycle Retail ers Associati on Conference in Washington, DC o n October 4, Statler spent plenty of time claiming that Cycle News has misrep resented h is positions and rnis'q uo ted h im ; both those charges are completely u nt ru e. Statler tried to come off as a reasonable, misunderstood government official. The problem here is th a t Statler, who ca n be very engaging one-onone or in a group away from the g lare of the televisio n cameras, is a rabid dog of a burea ucra t when the hot ligh ts of television sh in e his wa y. H e berates and h assles witnesses at C PSC h ear ings who don 't adopt his line, wh ich is th at ATVs are unsafe and sh ould be banned a n d recalled. (He cla ims he never advoca ted a ban, which is anoth er lie; h e p lays sema n tics wh en hi s words ca n ha ve o n lv one rea so nab le meaning ). Th en , afte~ browbeatin g well -m eanin g , hard work in g , honest witnesses who d isagree with him, after makin g fun o f ' the ir p ositio n and essen tia lly ca lli ng them liar s, h e cla ims to be impart ia l a nd fa ir. wh ich he is not. Statler rewrites his o wn h istorv and denies the o nly poss ible interpre tation of h is action s; afte r denounci ng test im o ny of m otorcycle a n d AT V dea lers a t a n ATV safety h ea ring in New H ampshire. h e stormed ou t of th e mee ti ng. T h e w itnesses were incen sed , an d several wrote their co n gress me n an d Co ngressman La rry Cra ig, who has cha llen ged Sta tler lat elv . D~ n na Osows ki. m anager of Bob's Cycles in Sou th bri dge , Massac husetts. called me afterwards. She was shoc ked, sh e told me ; before a tten din g th e hearing a nd seeing Statler in act ion . sh e co u ld n' t believe th e stu ff I h ad written abo u t Statler , she sa id ; after th e heari ng, she th o ug h t I had been too easy on h im , and th at he was far worse th an portrayed in Cycl e News. No w Sta tler clai ms he left the h ear in g simp ly because h e was in a h urr y to make a pl ane, a nd so me in th e a ud ience misin ter preted hi s ac tio n. Maybe h e shou ld h ave explained, he say s. T ha t's like H itler claimi ng he wa sn ' t rea lly occ u pyi ng Fra nce ; he was just vacat ioning, a nd the Fren ch mi sinterpreted hi s actions. Maybe th e Nazis sh ould have explained . Wh at we have h ere is Dr. J ekyl an d Mr. Statler , or maybe The Chameleon. On lythe real Mr. Statler is n ot a dedi cated, reas on ab le man . The real Mr. Statler is a bureaucratic monster. See for yo urself at the O ctober 17 CPSC hearing in Los Angeles, schedu led to start a t 8:30 a.m . in room 2 12A of the Los Angeles Convention C ente r, 120 I Figueroa S t., Los Angeles, California , 2 13/ 741-1151. Sh ow up to pro test Sta tler' s actio ns. Carry a sign asking for a ban on Statler, or j ust hoot a nd yell a lot wh en the o pp o rt u ni ty arises. Bett er still , get out th e pen a nd paper a n d write yo ur Congressman , and demand th at Statler be pitch ed o ff the shi p of stat e, headfir st with arms bound. We don 't n eed the lik es o f Stua rt " Ban 'em " Sta tler. • IJgt&ln~t· GOVERNMENT B.S. Righteous ind ig nat i on By Matt Benson Is it ignorance? Misin fo rmation? O r an outright bias agai n st m otorcycles? H ard to sa y for sure. Bu t wha t's certain is that these ki nds of thi ngs m ake yo u ma d - righteously in dignant, as a friend likes to say . In di gna tion Number One: Just before going into su mmer recess, the u .s. House o f Represen tat ives a p proved a mu lti -mill ion-dollar funding bill for the Departm ent o f Interior and "related agencies ." Most n otably, House Bill 301 1 would in crease the U .S. Forest Ser vice trai lcon str u ction budget by $5 million , a j u m p from $3.3 million to $8.3 m il li on. T h a t, however , is where the good news stops . , T he House Ap p ro p ri a tions Committee, which dr afted the bill, wrote a h alf-inch -thick report to acco m pa ny the legis la tio n, a nd this report detai ls h o w the fu nds o ugh t and ough t n ot be spen t. In describi n g th e Fo rest Ser vice trail budget, th e pa nel wro te, " T h e comm itte e intends for thi s in crease to be used for the cons truc tio n of foot trai ls o n ly. T he co m m ittee is co ncerned over reports of a n inc reasing num ber of trail s being con structed or co nve rte d to off-road veh icl e use, a nd believes tha t th e Fores t Servi ce sh ou ld concentrate th ese lim ited funds o n the co ns tructio n o f foot tra il s." Now I don ' t know who whispered these nast y untruth s in the com m ittee 's co llective ea r, but T do know there a re m an y more mil es o f hikin g trails than OR V trails , especia lly in Eastern na tiona l forests, If we've go t a n ove rabun dance of riding trail s, I'd like to know where so th at I ca n p lan my nex t vaca tion . Someone has forgotten that o ff-ro ad vehicl e use is a pe rfec tly -legitima te ac tivit y on public lan ds (remember those "land of many uses" signs a t th e bo undari es of n ational forests) . Wheth er h e 's opera ti ng u nd er ign ora nce, m isinformation or bias, the p rinci pl e a u th or of th e Appropria tio ns Committee report (n u m bered 99-205), Rep . Sidney Yates of Illinois, needs to be reminded th at O RV users are taxpayers too , and th a t we deserve a share of any trail -budget increase. Your in dign a n t letter to Yates may be sent to 2234 Ra yb urn , House Office Building, Wa shington, DC 205 15. T he agency claimed in th e August notice that it does not hav e the authority to " go behind" a sta te' s HOV certification or q uestion the validity of evaluations used by states tha t certified aga in st motorcycle s in HOVs. Then ca me the big brushoff: "T he FHwA ap p recia tes the desires of motorcycl ists to use carpool la nes for the ir own safety. The intro d uction of motorcycle s to ex istin g HOV faci li ties is a matter for determination by eac h sta te highway agency, subject to the sta te' s fin ding that such use will be safe a nd will not ad versely affect the integrity of the HOV facility." Your ca ll : is it ignora nce, misin format ion or bias? The agency now seems to favor a strict interpreta tion of th e Su rface T ra n sporta tion Act of 1982, whi ch means tha t we , too, h ave to work within the pecul iar wording of th a t law to catch a sta te using federal m oney to construct , reconstruct or , res u rface an HO V lane. It 's u p to us to wa tch for work goin g on in HOV , car poo l or "con tra f'low" lanes. If you see so m eth in g, make a note of th e ro u te, location and type of work' being done. Send that information to Gary Winn at the AMA , P.O. Box 61 14, Westerville, OH 43081. If Gary finds that federal do llars have been used on carpool lanes, he'll put pressure on the FHwA and the sta te to make a decision on motorcycle u se. With n o help from the agency - and u ntil the federal law is more finely tu ne d - we've got to pe ster . them u nti l we have o ur way . T rail rid ers and road ri ders, you , have been discrimina ted aga in st. Take a few moments to savor th a t feeling of righteous in dignation, then do something about it. The Inter ior and Re la ted Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee is writing its ow n version of the funding bil l. Trail riders sho uld ask Subcommittee Chairman James McC lure not to in cl ude bia sed Fo rest Service trail-construction language in his version of the bill. Letters to McCI ure ma y be addressed in care of the subcommittee, 114 Dirksen , Senate Office Bui lding, Wash ington, DC 20510. The greatest threat posed by the House report is that it co mes at a time when na tional forest s ar e prepar ing their lo ng-term management p lans. If Forest Service off icials see tha t th e m en h o lding th e ch eck boo k are disco u raging ORV trails, th ey ma y well sca le bac k pla ns for increasi ng motorcycle trail mi leage. Budget bills co me a nd go each year " bu t m anagement p la ns will be in effect for decades. In d ig na tio n N umber T wo : For yea rs, the American Motorcycl ist Associa tio n (AMA ) has been trying to o pe n high-occupancy veh icle (HO V) - ca rpool - la nes to m otorcycles. T he argu me nt is that th ese lanes are des ign ed to rewa rd fuel effici ency by provid ing faster, less-congested travel in u r ba n areas . Mo torcycles , wh ich are as efficien t as a th ree- or fourperson carpool , deserve access to H OV lanes, T h e problem seem ed to be fixed late in 1982, when language was at tac hed to th e federa l Surfaced T ransportat io n Assista nce Act, d irec tin g sta tes to o pe n HOV la nes to m o torcycles un less sta te officia ls co u ld cert ify that two-wheelers wo u ld pose a safety h a zard . U n fo rt u n a tely, Con gress d id n ' t exp ress th a t q ui te as clearl y as I just d id. Most stat es ignored th e d irect ive; Cal ifornia has ope n ed selected HOV lanes to m otorcycles, and only Washington Stat e has opened a ll its HOV lanes to motorcycles, both without ill effects, and only Texas and Virginia have actually certified again st motorcycles. Complicating problems is the Fede r a l Highway Administr ation (FHwA). While not erecting any roadblocks, the agency hasn 't attem p ted to help us implement the law either. T h a t fact became obvious in a n August 22 Federa l Register notice. The FHwA h ad asked for comments in April 1984 on implementing the 1982 tran sport a tion law, and 45 of 51 letters th e agency received came from motorcyclists seeking access to H OV lanes. Ri der s asked the agency to write rules cla rifying the HOV cert ifica tio n process and leaningon recalcitrant states a bit. Instead, offi<;ials did a bureaucratic en d run , lea ving us no better off than before. .... V ..0 o .... u o • 3

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